Twenty-three-year-old University of Zululand graduate, Lungisani Andile Msimang, believes that a life without an impact is a life not well lived, and thus he is committed to achieving this goal in his family, career as life in general.

On Thursday, 10 May 2018, the Dundee born graduate took one step closer towards fulfilling his dream when he was conferred with a Bachelor of Commerce: Accounting Science as a Top Achiever during the Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law graduation ceremony. Msimang was among the top five achievers in his Faculty, an accomplishment which came as a shock to him.

“I expected to do well but not this well,” he said. “I can only attribute this success to hard work, making lots of time for my studies and learning from my failures as I have failed many times before in my life,” said Msimang  whilst also acknowledging the essential role played by all his lecturers his journey as a UNIZULU student.

Msimang is currently enrolled for a Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting (PGDA), commonly referred to as a Certificate in the Theory of Accounting (CTA), at the University of Cape Town in his journey to becoming a Chartered Accountant.Though he finds the course challenging, Msimang said he is investing most of his time into his studies as always because he needs to prepare himself for Allan Gray and Nedbank- companies which he aspires to work for and make a lasting impact in.

Above everything, Msimang hopes to be a success for his mother and deceased father, whom he refers to as his “best friend and role model”. “My dad suffered a heart attack two weeks before I started writing my exams in my third year. It was such a blow. I had only one week to prepare for my studies because we were preparing for the funeral the other week,” Msimang recalled.

While this could have been an excuse for him to lose focus in his academics, it instead motivated him to excel, in his father’s honour. “My dad was a very responsible father. He taught me a lot of things that I want to emulate today,” said Msimang.

– Naledi Hlefane

Lungisani Andile Msimang, BCom: Accounting Science graduate who was one of the top achievers in his Faculty.